By Cheyne Odronio | Editor-in-Chief
Photo by Cheyne Ordonio
As an Occupy Boston march on Oct. 8 progressed down Boylston Street on its way to Newbury Street, a place famous for its many shops and restaurants, a single woman stood outside Trader Joe’s, resolved to make the movement more image conscious with a sign that read, “Take A Look At Yourself, 99%.”
I’m not so sure she checked the mirror, herself, while dressing for the day’s grind, but I guess dismissing the movement’s concerns based on the “hippie” or “anarchists” looks of its participants alone is about as well trained as one can get after years of watching the pundits on Fox News and CNN bicker over partisan lines. Nonetheless, as the movement marched on, I overheard curious onlookers, some with dropped jaws, asking the question, “What do they want,” so I figured I’d take the lady seriously and have a closer look at Occupy Boston.
Among those in attendance at the march that day was Jason Kotoch, an MWCC alumnus and current student at The Museum of Fine Arts of Boston, who said, “We’re being asked to pay a bill that the people who run this country, the banks and the government, created.” Other grievances he mentioned were that people don’t have healthcare and bank mistakes that cause people to be evicted from their homes.
Of the movement itself, Kotoch said, “I don’t really necessarily see any point in begging the people who put us here to get us out of the problem…I feel like this is an interesting way to start something; building a truly democratic system right here in Dewey Square and then letting that expand all throughout Massachusetts and then the Country and then all throughout the world.” He went on to say that he wants people to realize that, “there’s no reforming a system that was corrupt in the first place; there’s no reforming a system that pits people against each other and against the Earth, which essentially is the nature of Capitalism…Ultimately I would like to see Capitalism abolished. I think that it’s a failed experiment… There’s got to be a better way.”
Also at the march was Jason Mizula, an Iraq War Vet and student from UMass Boston, who came to Occupy Boston in order to form a coalition of veterans, military families, and people from communities who have been affected by our wars and our foreign policy. Mizula would ultimately like to see a Constitutional Amendment for Peace based on Major General Smedley D. Butler’s proposal from 1936. Mizula said his time in the military, “opened my eyes to the fact that there’s a big world outside of Massachusetts, outside the United States.” He went on to describe an incident in which he experienced helping a capsized boat of illegal immigrants, as a member of the Coastguard, and openly wondered how horrible it must be for people to risk their lives and start over at the lowest rungs of society with all the anti-immigrant sentiment we have.
Justin Kenney, a volunteer for the food tent at Occupy Boston who also attended the march, said that in the past he had become disillusioned by activism. But, because Occupy Boston is such a constant presence, it forces people to pay attention. Of the issues that brought Kenney to Occupy Boston in the first place, he said, ” it’s the fact that not only does one percent control 50 percent (fact check: it’s 42 percent) of wealth, they control 90 percent of the nation’s power… Unless the other 99 percent can organize in the same way and really concentrate their influence and power we’ll never be able to check them.”
And organize they have. A walk around Tent City, on Dewey Square, reveals massive infrastructure; makeshift walkways made out of wooden crates, a spiritual area with scheduled meetings for various religions, a public library, a logistics operation, a food court, a medical center, a legal advising center, a sign making area, safety volunteers, scheduled rubbish pickup, and a media operation.
Geoff Matheson, an entrepreneur who’s part of the startup groworganism.com, volunteered for the logistics operation. Matheson said of the logistics operation, “basically what we’re in charge of is collecting donations, distributing those donations in a take what you need sort of way…. And making sure that all the other work groups have what they need in terms of supplies. “For donations, Matheson said, “Some large groups have donated, but it’s the grandmothers, it’s the mothers, it’s the fathers who come in…People care!”
Ariana Webb, a Legal Assistant, who volunteered for the legal advising center, said that their purpose is to advise people of their rights, train objective observers (people in the green hats), raise defense/ bail funds in the event that people get arrested, organize pro-bono lawyers, and collect emergency, family, and medical information if people get arrested. Her single advice for the members of Occupy Boston was, if they get arrested, “Don’t call your boyfriend; call your lawyer.”
A man who would only identify himself as Leighton and refused to be on camera or have his picture taken was a volunteer for the media operation. Leighton said, “Our main objectives, or our main jobs so far, has been to maintain a web presence… to maintain communication between our individual groups within the camp… try to communicate with donors on the web… we’ve also formed a small amount of PR work.” Leighton said he works in life sciences and has a degree in chemistry.
In response to criticism of the movement, Kotoch offered a solution for people who think Occupy Boston is disorganized. “I would say, if you think that, just come down here and check it out yourself,” Kotoch said, “I think that you’d be presently surprised just what you’d find out.”
I certainly was presently surprised, especially when it came time for a General Assembly, which is both fascinating to watch and utterly boring to sit through at the same time. While trying to maintain an ideal as a leaderless movement so that everyone can be part of the conversation, the GA, “run” by people who call themselves facilitators, gives individuals and groups a stage to make announcements, voice opinions, make proposals, and submit statements to be voted on by everyone and passed by a consensus of spirit fingers. The process is long and often repetitive as people are afforded the ability to pose clarifying questions, friendly amendments, or raise objections. After that, the group or individual who made the proposal considers amendments and objections, accepts or denies them, then re-reads the proposal, starting the whole process over again.
After taking a day to get to know the people at Occupy Boston, even spending the night in one of their tents, I learned that there’s more to it than just a bunch of unshowered, out of work, hippies and anarchists. For one, I could only identify one anarchist. And what’s so wrong about being an anarchist anyway? As Americans, shouldn’t they have a forum to be heard, along with the students, veterans, legal assistants, entrepreneurs, chemists, medics, socialists, ex-bankers, iron workers, and teachers also in attendance? Their message is their occupation. Their occupation is a democracy. They want real democracy. And they want you to join them.
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